Laura E. Jesse: Housing the homeless can cut costs

A study commissioned by the Maine State Housing Authority found that placing homeless people – particularly those with mental illness – in some form of supportive housing drastically cut costs of caring for such individuals.

Supportive housing – where homeless people not only receive a place to live but services to stabilize them – is being pointed to more and more as a panacea for growing social service costs attributed to inappropriate use of emergency rooms, emergency medical services and jails.

The Maine study, the most recent to cite the cost-cutting benefits of supportive housing, found the cost of non-housing services, on average, were cut in half – even though the tenants received more mental health services than when they were on the streets. In fact, the study found mental health costs were cut by 41 percent after the subsidized housing tenants found their own places.

The most savings, however, come with the decrease in use of emergency services, police intervention and incarceration: a 60 percent decrease in ambulance transports, 52 percent fewer emergency room visits and 68 percent decrease in police contacts.

Although it’s a bit old – relatively speaking, of course – a separate study on the New York/New York Initiative provides an excellent look at the benefits of supportive housing, particularly for the homeless mentally ill.